Augmented reality audio mixing

ABSTRACT

Augmented reality enables an operator to visualize values of parameters of audio channels during audio mixing. A heads-up display worn by the operator, such as smart glasses, displays virtual graphical objects representing the parameters so that they appear within a three-dimensional space surrounding the operator and an audio mixing console. Parameter values are represented by the location, size, and other attributes of the virtual graphical objects. The operator adjusts the parameter values using physical and touch controls on the console and by manipulating the virtual objects with a body part such as a finger. Sensors mounted on the heads-up display and on other body parts capture position and movement of the operator in real time and send the captured data to a system running augmented reality control software. Graphical user interfaces of a media processing application controlled by the console and of plug-in modules may also be displayed on the heads-up display.

BACKGROUND

Audio mixing tools are used in a wide array of settings, including thosewhere it is advantageous for audio mixers to use consoles having a smallfootprint for which there is only a limited amount of space fordisplays. In some environments, the cost of the mixing equipment is animportant consideration, and, since, OLEDs and LCDs and their associatedelectronics is expensive, these may be kept to small sizes, or eveneliminated entirely. Furthermore, mixing console lack 3D displays.Despite these output limitations, audio engineers wish to retain as muchof the mixing functionality and ease-of-use that is available in thetraditional, larger consoles. When mixing the audio for a film, an audioengineer needs to look at the screen showing the video in order toensure that the audio is correctly tailored to the picture. In suchsituations, the visual focus of the engineer jumps from screen toconsole frequently, and it is important to minimize the time and effortrequired for the engineer to locate and adjust the desired audioparameters. There is therefore a need to adapt mixing console interfacesto facilitate full-function and intuitive audio mixing in small, lowcost mixing systems.

SUMMARY

In general, the methods, systems, and computer program productsdescribed herein enable the mixing of audio using interfaces based inpart on augmented reality. New interfaces support new modalities ofvisualizing and adjusting audio parameter values, includingthree-dimensional spatial parameters for placing sound sources within athree-dimensional space, such as a film theater.

In general, in one aspect, a method of mixing a plurality of audiochannels of a media project comprises: providing an audio mixing consolefor mixing the plurality of audio channels of the media project;providing smart glasses for an operator of the audio mixing console,wherein the audio mixing console and the smart glasses are in datacommunication with a computer hosting augmented reality software; andwhile the operator is wearing the smart glasses, displaying on the smartglasses a graphical representation of a value of a parameter of a givenaudio channel, wherein the graphical representation of the value of theparameter appears to the operator to be positioned at a spatial locationwithin a three-dimensional space surrounding the operator, and the audiomixing console.

Various embodiments include one or more of the following features. Theoperator is able to adjust the value of the parameter while wearing thesmart glasses, and wherein the graphical representation of the value ofthe parameter is updated in real-time to represent a current value ofthe parameter. The user is able to adjust the value of the parameter bymanipulating a physical control on the audio mixing console. Theoperator is able to adjust the value of the parameter by touching atouchscreen control on the audio mixing console. The operator is able toadjust the value of the parameter by using gestures that appear tointeract in the three-dimensional space with the graphicalrepresentation of the value of the parameter. The parameter of the givenaudio channel defines a spatial location of a source of the given audiochannel within the three-dimensional space, and the spatial locationwithin the three-dimensional space of the graphical representation ofthe parameter indicates the spatial location of the source of the givenaudio channel. One or more of the size, shape, or color of the graphicalrepresentation of the parameter is indicative of the parameter value.The spatial location of the graphical representation of the parametervalue indicates a location of a control of the mixing console that isassigned to control the value of the parameter. The graphicalrepresentation comprises an analog representation of the value of theparameter. The graphical representation includes rendered textindicative of the value of the parameter. The graphical representationincludes a name of the parameter. The parameter is an equalizationparameter of the given channel. The graphical representation of theparameter value is a graph. The media project comprises time-synchronousvideo and audio; the time-synchronous video is displayed on a displaywithin the three-dimensional space surrounding the operator and themixing console; a source object for the given audio channel is depictedin the displayed time-synchronous video; and the spatial location of thegraphical representation of the value of the parameter appears tocoincide with a spatial location within the displayed time-synchronousvideo of the depicted source object. The parameter is a spatialparameter or a non-spatial of the given audio channel. The graphicalrepresentation of the value of the parameter is displayed within agraphical user interface of a media processing application, and thegraphical user interface of the media processing application appears tothe operator to be positioned on a surface of the three-dimensionalspace surrounding the operator. The display on the smart glassesincludes graphical representations of values of a plurality of audiomixing parameters including the graphical representation of the value ofthe parameter of the given audio channel. The computer running theaugmented reality control software is embedded within the audio mixingconsole.

In general, in another aspect, a system for audio mixing comprises: acontrol system in data communication with augmented reality smartglasses and with an audio mixing console, wherein the augmented realitysmart glasses includes a three-dimensional position sensor, wherein thecontrol system is configured to: receive from the audio mixing console avalue of a parameter of a given audio channel that is being mixed by anoperator of the audio mixing console while the operator is wearing theaugmented reality smart glasses; in response to receiving the parametervalue, generate data representing a graphical representation of theparameter value; sending the data representing the graphicalrepresentation of the parameter value to the augmented reality smartglasses, wherein the augmented reality smart glasses receives the datarepresenting the graphical representation of the parameter value anddisplays the graphical representation of the parameter value so that itappears to the operator to be located within a three-dimensional spacethat surrounds the operator and the mixing console.

Various embodiments include one or more of the following features. Theoperator uses a control of the audio mixing console to adjust the valueof the parameter of the given audio channel and the control system inreal-time: receives an adjusted value of the parameter; generates inreal-time data representing a graphical representation of the adjustedvalue of the parameter; and sends the data representing the graphicalrepresentation of the adjusted value of the parameter value to theaugmented reality smart glasses; and the augmented reality smart glassesreceives the data representing the graphical representation of theadjusted value of the parameter value and displays the graphicalrepresentation of the adjusted parameter value. The system includes athree-dimensional position sensor in data communication with the controlsystem, wherein: the three-dimensional position sensor tracks a movementof the operator and sends data representing the tracked movement to thecontrol system; the control system in real-time: interprets the trackedmovement as an instruction to adjust the value of the parameter andgenerates in real-time data representing a graphical representationcorresponding to an adjusted value of the parameter; and sends the datarepresenting the graphical representation of the adjusted value of theparameter value to the augmented reality smart glasses; and theaugmented reality smart glasses receives the data representing thegraphical representation of the adjusted value of the parameter valueand displays the graphical representation of the adjusted parametervalue. The parameter value represents a spatial position of the givenaudio channel, and wherein interacting with the displayed representationof the parameter value includes moving the graphical representationwithin the three-dimensional space. The graphical representationrepresents a numerical value of the parameter and interacting with thedisplayed representation of the parameter value includes moving afeature of the graphical representation to increase or decrease thenumerical value of the parameter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of the components of anaugmented-realty-assisted audio mixing system.

FIG. 2 illustrates the visualization of a spatial location of an audiochannel by displaying a virtual graphical object on a heads-up display.

FIG. 3 illustrates the visualization of spatial locations of multipleaudio channels by displaying a virtual graphical object for each of theaudio channels on a heads-up display.

FIG. 4 illustrates the display of multiple parameters of audio channelswithin virtual objects representing the spatial location of each channelon a heads-up display.

FIG. 5 illustrates the use of a heads-up display of a graphicalrepresentation of an audio parameter value that is being adjusted with acontrol of an audio mixing console.

FIG. 6 illustrates the display of a user interface of a digital audioworkstation on a heads-up display.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the display of an audio equalization graphon a heads-up display.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of the display of visualizations of multiplemixing parameters using a heads-up display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Audio mixing is characterized by the need for ready access to a largenumber of controls. For example, it is common have 100 or more inputchannels which are to be mixed down to just two channels in a stereomix, or to 5 channels in a 5.1 mix. In traditional systems, a largeconsole might devote an entire channel strip to each of the inputchannels, with the result that such consoles tend to be large, measuringover 20 feet long. In order to meet the demand for small, inexpensiveconsoles, mixing console manufacturers have developed systems withsmaller footprints, such as a standard rack mounted dimension of 19 by20 inches, having a reduced number of channel strips, each of which canbe allocated to a channel selected by the user. Modular control surfacesenable users to configure consoles to their needs by populating achassis equipped with standard size buckets with standardized modules,such as fader, knob, switch, and display modules. When space and fundsare limited, a user may reduce the number of display modules, ordispense with such modules entirely.

Augmented reality provides a means of expanding and enhancing the userinterface in mixing consoles in which traditional user interface realestate has been curtailed as a result of cost and/or size constraints.In such systems, the mix engineer wears augmented reality smart glassessuch as the Microsoft® HoloLens®. The engineer is able to see the realworld through the glasses, while computer-generated images aresuperimposed over the real world. FIG. 1 illustrates a system forproviding a user interface with augmented reality for an audio engineer.Mixing console 102 that is being used to control media processingapplication 104, such as a digital audio workstation, is in datacommunication with augmented reality control system 106 that hostsaugmented reality software. In various implementations, augmentedreality controller 106 is a module within mixing console 102 or a partof media processing application 104. In some applications, such as inlive performance mixing, no media processing application is used. Theaudio engineer wears augmented reality smart glasses 108, which includeshead position sensor 110 that transmits the location of the wearer'shead, and thus tracks head translations and rotations. The tracked headmovements may result from movements of the head of an otherwisestationary wearer, and/or movements resulting from the wearer movingaround the space, e.g., a dub stage or mixing studio. The augmentedreality smart glasses may also include spatial mapping device 112 whichmaps the space in which the audio engineer and the mixing console arelocated. The spatial mapping uses one or more of visible light,infrared, and sonar to generate the three-dimensional map of the room.The user's movement of hands and fingers may be measured by hand/fingerposition sensor 114, which may be implemented as one or more sensorsattached to a hand-held controller or a glove. In other implementations,the hand and finger movements may be tracked using the same sensors(e.g., optical or infrared) used by the spatial mapping device of theaugmented reality glasses. Gestures may be detected using imagerecognition techniques. Other sensors may be deployed to detect movementof other parts of the user's body, such as arms. The output of the 3Dposition sensor, hand/finger sensor, and any other position or movementsensors is transmitted to control system 106. The control system in turninterprets the received user position information to update a display onthe smart glasses. Specific movements of the hands, fingers, and in somecases also the arm, may be interpreted as gestures for manipulatingvirtual objects appearing in the smart glasses display, or forperforming other mixing functions. Gestures or movements that controlparameters or constitute other mixing commands are forwarded by controlsystem 106 to mixing console 102, and, if present, to media processingapplication 104.

We now describe examples of the application of augmented reality in anaudio mixing environment. FIG. 2 illustrates the use of augmentedreality to display a shape, such as sphere 202 showing the 3D spatialposition of sound on a dub stage. The sound whose position is shown inthis manner is the track that is attentioned on console 204. The userpans the position of the sound in three dimensions using the mixingconsole by means of two joysticks, a single joystick for two of thedimensions and a knob for the third, or with three knobs, one for eachdimension. As the user adjusts the sound position, the apparent positionof the sphere is updated to represent the current sound location bymoving its position left and right, up and down, and making it larger orsmaller to indicate distance from the user. While adjusting the 3Dposition of the sound, the operator does not need to look away fromscreen 206 which shows the picture that corresponds to the audio.Alternatively, a user may adjust the sound position by directmanipulation of the virtual object. For example, he may grasp or pushthe virtual object and move it around with hand movements in threedimensions. The position and gestures of the hand are captured byhand/finger position sensor 114 (FIG. 1), and relayed to augmentedreality control system 106. The control system updates the display onsmart glasses 108 to reflect any sound position adjustments. The abilityto show and manipulate in an intuitive fashion the 3D position of atrack is especially useful when editing a 3D format such as Dolby Atmos®or Ambisonics, in which the performance venue is able to reproduce asound in three dimensions.

A similar representation of the 3D position of a track can be used toshow the 3D positions of some or all of the tracks in a mixsimultaneously. FIG. 3 illustrates a scenario in which the positions ofsix tracks are shown as spheres 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, and 312 in theaugmented reality display. Using a filter, a subset of tracks in asession may selected for display, such as the tracks pertaining todialog, music, or effects.

In addition to the 3D location of a track, the heads-up display candisplay additional information pertaining to a track, such as trackname, waveform, clipping indication, sound field size, and, for stereotracks, an XY plot. This is illustrated in FIG. 4, which shows anaugmented reality representation of four tracks 402, 404, 406, 408,together with further information. Sphere 402 includes track name 410,and a representation of track waveform 412. Tracks 404 and 406 are namedafter the actors whose voice they represent, and their locationaccordingly coincides with position of the corresponding actors on thescreen. The track represented by sphere 408 named “bus” indicates anoff-screen location of the sound source.

To allow the sound engineer to keep their eyes on the screen, a largeheads-up display of the name and parameter value of a control beingmanipulated may be shown. This contrasts with the traditional method inwhich the engineer needs to focus on a small OLED display on the consoleto read the parameter value. This application is illustrated in FIG. 5,in which parameter name 502, numerical parameter value 504, and analoggraphical representation 506 of the parameter value are shown on theheads-up display. When a parameter value is adjusted, the control systemdetermines which parameter is to be displayed on the heads-up display byinspecting a signal received from the mixing console. An alternativemethod is to provide a mapping from the physical position of the consoleto the augmented reality display. This requires that a configurationroutine is run in which the system is explicitly told where each of thecontrols on the console is located. This may be done in absolute spacewhen the console is fixed in place, or in relative space defined withrespect to a reference feature in the console. One method of telling thesystem where each control is located involves enabling the user toposition on a display icons representing each module of the controlsurface and then having the system request that the user manipulate acontrol on each of the modules when requested to do so by the system.This enables the system to tie a network address to the physicallocation of each of the modules of the mixing console. This method isdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/836,456, which iswholly incorporated herein by reference. The location of each control ona given module with respect to a reference point on the module may bedetermined from the specifications of the module. The location of theconsole itself may be specified by defining the location of one or morecorners or edges of the console. This may be achieved by referring to aspatial map of the room generated by the spatial mapping device in theaugmented reality smart glasses. If more than one mapped shape resemblesa console, the object closest to the wearer of the smart glasses isidentified as the mixing console. Alternatively, the user can let thesystem know where the reference points are by gazing at each referencepoint in turn with the smart glasses and activating a control when readyto transmit the position to the computer hosting the augmented realitysoftware. The system combines the gaze direction with the spatial map todetermine the reference point locations.

The augmented reality control software requires data defining theboundary of the room in which the mixing is being performed in order torender the objects representing sound track locations correctly withrespect to the room. For example, when panning the apparent location ofa sound source within the room, the object representing the track needsto appear at the corresponding room location in the heads-up display.Methods for identifying room dimensions to an augmented reality systeminclude spatial mapping methods, such as those described by Microsoft inconnection with its HoloLens head-mounted display. Various spatialmapping methods use infrared beams to map the room in three dimensions,and build model of walls, the mixing console, and, in a dub stage, thescreen. Metadata associated with the picture may define the spatialposition of sound sources that appear within the picture. The augmentedreality controller may receive such metadata and use it to correctlyposition augmented reality representations of the sound sources so as tocoincide with their corresponding source objects in the picture.Off-screen sound sources, such channel 408 in FIG. 4 representing a buscan be positioned in a similar fashion, either using metadata receivedwith the video being dubbed, or by relying on the three-dimensionalspatial map of the room generated by the augmented reality smartglasses.

The shape of a virtual graphical element may also be used to represent aparameter value. Referring to the example illustrated in FIG. 5, thevalue of the parameter, i.e., frequency, is represented by the length ofthe purple arc. Another parameter that controls the bandwidth of afilter that controls the gain at that frequency, which is commonlyreferred to as Q, may be represented by a shape of the virtual arc; forexample, a fatter arc may refer to a wider bandwidth (which correspondsto a lower Q value). Alternatively, a second virtual object having asimilar arc shape to that shown in FIG. 5, but symmetrically disposedabout the vertical axis may be used to represent Q, with a longer arcindicating wider bandwidth (lower Q). The thickness of virtual pointer508 may also be used to represent the Q value.

Augmented reality glasses 108 may display some or all of the userinterface of a digital audio workstation that the engineer is using viathe console to perform the mixing. This can be “pasted” onto aconvenient surface in the physical room, at any desired size. FIG. 6illustrates user interface 602 of Pro Tools®, a digital audioworkstation from Avid® Technology Inc., Burlington, Mass., appearing inthe augmented reality display as projected onto a wall on the engineer'sright. This obviates the need for a monitor to be purchased and mountedonto the console for showing the digital audio workstation interface.The figure shows display 604 on the console, which is instead availablefor other functions, such as in configuring the console and showingselected track parameter values. Display 604 is included in theaugmented reality system's spatial map of the room, enabling to simulateocclusion of parts of wall display 602 in a manner consistent with theuser's head position. In order to ensure that virtual monitor display602 does not cover something that the user needs to see, the location ofthe virtual monitor is pinned to the physical environment. Thus, itstays in the same location with respect to the physical environmentregardless of the user's head movements.

FIG. 7 shows heads-up equalization (EQ) graph 702, which may bedisplayed when the engineer manipulates a physical EQ control on theconsole. The EQ may be manipulated in the traditional fashion usingphysical controls on the console, or the user may directly manipulatethe EQ graph using three-dimensional movements of body parts, includinggaze direction, and arm, hand, and finger movements. These movements aretracked by head position sensor (FIG. 1, 110) for gaze direction, and byhand/finger position sensor 114, and relayed to control system 106. Inone implementation of direct manipulation of parameters using thevirtual objects in the virtual reality display, a gaze direction is usedto control the position of cursor 704. The user then performs ahand/finger gesture to select that position, e.g., by making a pinchingor tapping gesture with their fingers. The select command could also beperformed via voice control or using a switch or button in a hand-heldcontroller. The EQ graph shown in FIG. 7 may then be manipulated byusing the hand to drag the cursor, which in turn alters the shape of thegraph, adjusting the frequency (x-axis) and gain (y-axis). In additionto EQ parameters, various other audio mixing parameters, such asdynamics parameters, gain, auxiliary send level, and pan may bemanipulated directly in a similar fashion. A similar heads-up windowshowing the user interface of a plug-in software module may be displayedinstead of or alongside the EQ window, with the plug-in parameterscontrolled either via the mixing console directly, as described above.

Technologies for implementing direct control of virtual objects in anaugmented reality environment involve the use of head-mounted displays,hand-controllers, hand gloves, and other body-mounted sensors fortracking user movements. The sensors may use visible light optical imagesensors, infrared, electromagnetic fields, sonar, GPS, accelerometers,or gyroscopes to map the environment and track and relay user motionswithin three-dimensional space.

Windows shown in the heads-up display may be stacked in front of eachother. As an example of this, FIG. 8 shows tracks in VCA groups 802. Thez direction may be used to present additional information, or to enablemembers of the VCA group to be accessed quickly. As a default, loudertracks may be placed nearer the front in the stack. Track ordering mayadhere to conventions, such as for a drum kit VCA group. Alternatively,the track representations may be organized in the z direction by usergrouping, e.g., drums, vocals, effects. FIG. 8 804 also shows heads-updisplay representations of dynamics graph and input gain meters as wellas filter response curves 806 and three dimensional spectrograms of oneor more tracks 808. The spectra may be rotated in three dimensions toshow the desired information more clearly. The user interfaces of one ormore plug-in software modules used in conjunction with the mixingconsole and/or the media processing application may also be shown in theaugmented reality display. The third dimension represented in theheads-up display may be used to help separate windows that wouldnormally be adjacent to each other, this providing a clearer interface.The representation of track positions, such as with the spheresillustrated in FIGS. 2-4 may be combined with any of the other datadisplay and manipulation examples discussed.

Further applications of augmented reality in audio mixing include thefollowing. Pan positions and other parameters may be directlymanipulated by the user. In some implementations, the augmented realitycontrol system recognizes objects within the video, determines theirspatial positions within the frame, and passes this information to themixing console which can use this to perform automatic panning of sound.The augmented reality control system also updates the augmented realitygraphical representation of the sound corresponding to the recognizedobjects, following the object's movement on the screen. Examples ofobjects associated with sound that may be tracked include people,animals, and vehicles within the scene.

To help focus attention, multiple operators working on a film mix mayonly see the tracks for which they are responsible. For example, adialog editor, music editor, or effects editor is only able to see theircorresponding tracks represented in the heads-up display. A meter bridgemay be positioned in the room at any desired size. In anotherapplication, the operator may move around a performance venue and, whenthe system determines using the 3D position sensor in combination withthe spatial map of the venue that the operator has approached an object,it may recognize the object and display information pertaining to thatobject on the heads-up display. For example, when approaching and/orlooking at loudspeaker, the level and/or frequency response of thespeaker is displayed. Looking at a microphone causes attributes of atrack associated with that microphone to be displayed, such as name,level, frequency response, EQ, dynamics settings, mute, and input gain.In the same fashion, attributes of tracks associated with a performerhaving a lavalier microphone, or an instrument may be retrieved anddisplayed when the user approaches or looks at the performer in physicalspace.

The various components of the system described herein may be implementedas a computer program using a general-purpose computer system. Such acomputer system typically includes a main unit connected to both anoutput device that displays information to a user and an input devicethat receives input from a user. The main unit generally includes aprocessor connected to a memory system via an interconnection mechanism.The input device and output device also are connected to the processorand memory system via the interconnection mechanism.

One or more output devices may be connected to the computer system.Example output devices include, but are not limited to, liquid crystaldisplays (LCD), plasma displays, various stereoscopic displays includingdisplays requiring viewer glasses and glasses-free displays, cathode raytubes, video projection systems and other video output devices,printers, devices for communicating over a low or high bandwidthnetwork, including network interface devices, cable modems, and storagedevices such as disk or tape. One or more input devices may be connectedto the computer system. Example input devices include, but are notlimited to, a keyboard, keypad, track ball, mouse, pen and tablet,touchscreen, camera, communication device, data input devices, andposition sensors mounted on an operator's head, hands, arms, or otherbody parts. The invention is not limited to the particular input oroutput devices used in combination with the computer system or to thosedescribed herein.

The computer system may be a general-purpose computer system, which isprogrammable using a computer programming language, a scripting languageor even assembly language. The computer system may also be speciallyprogrammed, special purpose hardware. In a general-purpose computersystem, the processor is typically a commercially available processor.The general-purpose computer also typically has an operating system,which controls the execution of other computer programs and providesscheduling, debugging, input/output control, accounting, compilation,storage assignment, data management and memory management, andcommunication control and related services. The computer system may beconnected to a local network and/or to a wide area network, such as theInternet. The connected network may transfer to and from the computersystem program instructions for execution on the computer, media datasuch as video data, still image data, or audio data, metadata, reviewand approval information for a media composition, media annotations, andother data.

A memory system typically includes a computer readable medium. Themedium may be volatile or nonvolatile, writeable or nonwriteable, and/orrewriteable or not rewriteable. A memory system typically stores data inbinary form. Such data may define an application program to be executedby the microprocessor, or information stored on the disk to be processedby the application program. The invention is not limited to a particularmemory system. Time-based media may be stored on and input frommagnetic, optical, or solid state drives, which may include an array oflocal or network attached disks.

A system such as described herein may be implemented in software,hardware, firmware, or a combination of the three. The various elementsof the system, either individually or in combination may be implementedas one or more computer program products in which computer programinstructions are stored on a computer readable medium for execution by acomputer, or transferred to a computer system via a connected local areaor wide area network. Various steps of a process may be performed by acomputer executing such computer program instructions. The computersystem may be a multiprocessor computer system or may include multiplecomputers connected over a computer network. The components describedherein may be separate modules of a computer program, or may be separatecomputer programs, which may be operable on separate computers. The dataproduced by these components may be stored in a memory system ortransmitted between computer systems by means of various communicationmedia such as carrier signals.

Having now described an example embodiment, it should be apparent tothose skilled in the art that the foregoing is merely illustrative andnot limiting, having been presented by way of example only. Numerousmodifications and other embodiments are within the scope of one ofordinary skill in the art and are contemplated as falling within thescope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of mixing a plurality of audio channelsof a media project, the method comprising: providing a physical mixingconsole for mixing the plurality of audio channels of the media project;providing smart glasses for an operator of the physical mixing console,wherein the physical mixing console and the smart glasses are in datacommunication with a computer hosting augmented reality software; whilethe operator is wearing the smart glasses, displaying on the smartglasses a graphical representation of a spatial location of a source ofa given audio channel, wherein the graphical representation of thespatial location of the source of the given audio channel appears to theoperator to be positioned at a spatial location within athree-dimensional space surrounding the operator and the physical mixingconsole; and enabling the operator to adjust the spatial location of thesource of the given audio channel with respect to the three-dimensionalspace, wherein the graphical representation of the spatial location ofthe source of the given audio channel is updated in response to anoperator using a combination of a knob and a joystick of the physicalmixing console to adjust the spatial location.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the operator is able to adjust the location of the source of thegiven audio channel by manipulating a physical control on the physicalmixing console.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the operator is ableto adjust the spatial location of the source of the given audio channelby touching a touchscreen control on the physical mixing console.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the operator is able to adjust the spatiallocation of the source of the given audio channel by using gestures thatappear to interact in the three-dimensional space with the graphicalrepresentation of the spatial location of the source of the given audiochannel.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein a size of the graphicalrepresentation of the spatial location of the source of the given audiochannel is indicative of a distance of the source of the given audiochannel from the operator.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein a shape ofthe graphical representation is indicative of a value of a parameter ofthe given audio channel.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein a color of agraphical representation is indicative of a value of a parameter of thegiven audio channel.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphicalrepresentation of the spatial location of the given audio channelincludes a name of the given audio channel.
 9. The method of claim 1wherein: the media project comprises time-synchronous video and audio;the time-synchronous video is displayed on a display within thethree-dimensional space surrounding the operator and the mixing console;a source object for the given audio channel is depicted in the displayedtime-synchronous video; and the spatial location of the graphicalrepresentation of the source of the given audio channel appears tocoincide with a spatial location within the displayed time-synchronousvideo of the depicted source object.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinthe graphical representation of the spatial location of the source ofthe given audio channel is displayed within a graphical user interfaceof a media processing application, and the graphical user interface ofthe media processing application appears to the operator to bepositioned on a surface of the three-dimensional space surrounding theoperator.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying onthe smart glasses graphical representations of values of a plurality ofaudio mixing.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer isembedded within the physical mixing console.
 13. A system for audiomixing comprising: a control system in data communication with augmentedreality smart glasses and with a physical mixing console, wherein: theaugmented reality smart glasses include a three-dimensional positionsensor; the physical mixing console is configured to enable an operatorusing a combination of a knob and a joystick to adjust a spatiallocation of a source of a given audio channel of media project; thecontrol system is configured to: receive from the physical mixingconsole information defining an adjusted spatial position of the sourceof the given audio channel; in response to receiving the informationdefining the adjusted spatial position of the source of the given audiochannel, generate data representing a graphical representation of theadjusted spatial position of the source of the given audio channel; andsend the data representing the graphical representation of the adjustedspatial position of the given audio channel to the augmented realitysmart glasses; and the augmented reality smart glasses receive the datarepresenting the graphical representation of the adjusted spatialposition of the source of the given audio channel and display thegraphical representation of the adjusted spatial position of the sourceof the given audio channel so that it appears to the operator to belocated within a three-dimensional space that surrounds the operator andthe mixing console.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the operatoruses a control of the physical mixing console to adjust the spatiallocation of the given audio channel.
 15. The system of claim 13, furthercomprising a three-dimensional position sensor in data communicationwith the control system, wherein: the three-dimensional position sensortracks a movement of the operator and sends data representing thetracked movement to the control system; the control system in real-time:interprets the tracked movement as an instruction to adjust the spatialposition of the source of the given audio channel and generates inreal-time data representing a graphical representation corresponding toan adjusted spatial position of the source of the given audio channel;and sends the data representing the graphical representation of theadjusted spatial position to the augmented reality smart glasses; andthe augmented reality smart glasses receive the data representing thegraphical representation of the adjusted spatial position and displaythe graphical representation of the adjusted spatial position.